3 responses to “How to Make a Secret Book Safe.”

For people who are appalled at the idea of cutting into a book to make a secret book safe, I recommend using an OLD (but not antique) encyclopedia volume. They often have interestingly embossed/decorated leather or faux-leather covers, and you’re not cutting up a book that still has any value for what’s inside it (since the information is decades out of date).

“And of course if you end up wrongfully imprisoned, they work as an excellent place to stash a rock hammer for tunneling to freedom.” You’d need a very large book to conceal a rock hammer inside. My twin’s rock hammer is about 14 inches long and 7 inches wide, and would have to be placed diagonally even inside an old, somewhat oversized encyclopedia volume. Tunneling one’s way to freedom using such a hammer would take even longer than using a dull box cutter to make a book safe. Instead, I recommend using the rock hammer as the short-handled war hammer it strongly resembles, and bashing one’s prison guard over the head before making a run for it.

Even an encyclopedia could someday become a collector’s item, but in this case, I’d suggest using a Britannica, avoiding the volumes M (for money) and V (for valuables). Of course, one would have to own the entire set, or else the single odd volume would stand out like a sore thumb, on the shelf. Moreover, Britannica volumes are big enough to make a rock hammer redundant: just bash the guard with the book.